Hi, I'm not exactly new here, though this is my first post on the forums.
If it's in the wrong section, I apologize.
Anyways,
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I'm currently on my second take of RTK1(I got up to 250 in the initial run, though it was a complete mess) and I reached 300+ Kanji while being able to memorize the majority of them. Problem is, the new ones(300 and above) just don't seem to stick, and I end up failing those almost every time. My system up until now was simple: 20 kanji a day, starting at 5 PM and (hopefully) ending at 6 PM, I write each kanji 5 times(or as much as 1 row on my notebook can contain) while reciting the story. What am I doing wrong here?

I'll just ask some question to help you think what works best for you because everyone is different.

DO you use Anki to help organize your reviews? Where do you get the stories for the kanji? Are you satisfied with the stories? Are you just reading the stories or actually letting the stories sink in? What type of learner are you (visual, audio, hands on)? What is getting in the way of remembering the kanji? Can you change the way you learn the new material to make it easier to remember?


Now my way: From doing rtk twice the way i do it is. I go through all my reviews first. if a fail a card i wait til it comes around again and then pass it regardless if i get it right or wrong the next time. After thats done I use the stories on this website for new kanji one by one. if i dont like the story and it doesnt take a hold of me i make my own story or alter an existing one. I relax and wait for the next day.

blankkor Wrote:I write each kanji 5 times(or as much as 1 row on my notebook can contain) while reciting the story. What am I doing wrong here?

Your "writing" and "reciting" are raising a red flag here. You may be using rote memorization techniques instead of activating your imagination and using vivid images in your mind.

Thanks for the replies, I have since did more to reinforce the story based on your suggestion, though I'm currently at 380-400 and Heisig just seems to be taking a piss at the readers at this point, tossing dozens of primitives who don't make sense and are hard to remember.

When I went through RTK, there were times when I felt so confident that I was going to do X cards each day and meet my deadline. But I had to slow down at certain times in the book to let myself catch up on reviews and be certain I could still breath before moving forward.

I lost all my reviews about a week after I finished the book (because I tried syncing for the first time and I'm incompetent). I've finally made my way through a review deck again to the last 400 kanji or so, and have had to slow down my pace and restructure my approach again because I haven't as much experience with these final characters.

Throughout my experience making the stories and going through the actual book, I changed my study methods and procedures and became more organized and efficient. Hopefully, you will learn as much about how to teach yourself things as you will the actual kanji characters.

blankkor Wrote:Heisig just seems to be taking a piss at the readers at this point, tossing dozens of primitives who don't make sense and are hard to remember.

Hah. I doubt that was his intent. Heisig has a sort of unorthodox but (I think) logical structure to the order of the characters based on the radicals. Later on you'll be singing the same song for the opposite problem, "So many kanji for the thread radical! Too much 'person'! I miss the variety of primitives I learned at 400."